Waterspout was spotted over the seas west of Hong Kong on Friday, it was last reported on April 22 in waters off Sai Kung’s Clear Water Bay. Photo: Handout
Hong Kong Observatory on Friday reported a waterspout over the sea near the city.
Waterspout was sighted at 4.53 pm, the forecaster said. Adding that there was a rapidly rotating water column spotted at sea to the west of the city with tropical disturbance from the South China Sea bringing unsettled weather to the region.
“The disturbance is expected to gradually approach the coast of southeastern China today and tomorrow, bringing showers and thunderstorms to the region. The Observatory is closely monitoring whether the disturbance will develop further,” the forecaster said.
A waterspout is a rotating column of air that occurs over a body of water, usually appearing as a funnel-shaped cloud in contact with the water and cumuliform cloud.
A waterspout is called a water tornado in Chinese.
There are two types of waterspouts, each formed by distinct mechanisms. The most common type is a weak vortex known as a "fair weather" or "non-tornadic" waterspout. The other less common type is simply a classic tornado occurring over water rather than land, known as a "tornadic", "super cellular", or "mesocyclonic" waterspout, and accurately a "tornado over water.
According to the witnesses, the waterspout, which whirls around out of dark clouds and the sea was sighted for a few minutes, SCMP reported.
A former, Leung Wing-mo Observatory assistant director said the waterspout reported on Friday occupied a small area in the sea, but warned it could cause some damage since wind speeds would be high at the centre of its rotating vortex.
“It’s a special situation, as I think in general the chance for a waterspout to appear today is low,” Leung added.
香港天文台稱週五在香港以西海域發現水龍捲
香港天文台週五報告稱，香港附近海域出現水龍捲。
預報員稱，下午 4 點 53 分，出現了水龍捲。 補充說，在該市以西的海上發現了一個快速旋轉的水柱，來自南中國海的熱帶擾動給該地區帶來了不穩定的天氣。
預計今明兩天，擾動將逐漸逼近中國東南部沿海，為該地區帶來陣雨和雷暴天氣。
天文台正密切監察擾動是否會進一步發展。
水龍捲是發生在水體上方的旋轉空氣柱，通常表現為與水和積狀雲接觸的漏斗狀雲。
水龍捲中文稱為水龍捲風。
水龍捲有兩種類型，每種都由不同的機制形成。 最常見的類型是被稱為“好天氣”或“非龍捲風”水龍捲的弱渦流。 另一種不太常見的類型是發生在水上而不是陸地上的經典龍捲風，稱為“龍捲風”、“超細胞”或“中風旋”水龍捲，準確地說是“水上龍捲風”
據《南華早報》報道，目擊者稱，水龍捲從烏雲和大海旋轉出來，持續了幾分鐘。
天文台前助理台長梁永武表示，週五報告的水龍捲佔據了海中的一小部分區域，但警告稱，由於旋轉渦流中心的風速很高，因此可能會造成一些損害。
梁補充說：“這是一個特殊的情況，因為我認為總體來說今天出現水龍捲的機會很低。”
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